words of an aged village cure had given a far-reaching
and sinister meaning to much that had seemed the mere froth of a
vigorous race fermenting in successful trade.

"Do you believe that the German colony in England pursues the same
methods?" he asked, and his heart sank as he recalled the wealth and
social standing of the horde of Germans in the British Isles.

"Can the leopard change his spots?" quoted the other. "A year ago one of
my friends, a maker of automobiles, thought I needed a holiday. He took
me to England. God has been good to Britain, monsieur! He has given you
riches and power. But you are grown careless. I stayed in five big
hotels, two in London and three in the provinces. They were all run by
Germans. I made inquiries, thinking I might benefit some of my village
lads; but the German managers would employ none save German waiters,
German cooks, German reception clerks. Your hall porters were Germans.
You never cared to reflect, I suppose, that hotels are the main arteries
of a country's life. But the canker did not end there. Your mills and
collieries were installing German plant under German supervisors. Your
banks----"

The speaker paused dramatically.

"But our God is not a German God!" he cried, and his sunken eyes seemed
to shoot fire. "Last night, listening to the guns that were murdering
Belgium, I asked myself, why does Heaven permit this crime? And the
answer came swiftly: German influences were poisoning the world. They
had to be eradicated, or mankind would sink into the bottomless pit. So
God has sent this war. Be of good heart. Remember the words of Saint
Paul: 'So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in
corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour; it is
raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.'"

The cure's voice had unconsciously attained the pulpit pitch. The clear,
incisive accents reached other ears.

The landlady crept in, with a face of scare. "Monsieur!" she whispered,
"the doors are wide open. It is an order!"

Dalroy went rapidly into the street. No loiterer was visible. Not even a
crowd of five persons might gather to watch the military pageant; it was
_verboten_. And ever the dim shapes flitted by in the night--horse,
foot, and artillery, automobiles, ambulance and transport wagons. There
seemed no end to this flux of gray-green gnomes. The air was tremulous
with the unceasing hammer-strokes of heavy guns on the an